China's initiative to revive the ancient Maritime Silk Road will include regional cooperation in the Pan-Beibu Gulf rim, making it a model project in China's deepening maritime ties with the ASEAN nations.

Jiang Zhenghua, vice chairman of the Standing Committee of 12th National People's Congress (NPC), the country's top legislature, reiterated the proposal at the 8th Pan-Beibu Gulf Economic Zone (BGEZ) Cooperation Forum held on May 15 in Nanning, the provincial capital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region in south China.

The emphasis on maritime cooperation in reviving the Maritime Silk Road has followed the economic takeoff in the emerging markets, many of which are Southeast Asian countries. [Hong Kong Company Formation]More countries are turning to the sea to seek international cooperation.

Beibu Gulf, the only exit to the sea in southwest China, has naturally become the terminal in the route on China's side, which will bring cooperation opportunities and revenue to the area.

Building cooperation will require all countries involved to remove obstacles in forming a consensus on inclusive growth, said Jiang.

China's proposal on deepening maritime cooperation with ASEAN countries has sometimes met with reservation and suspicion because some countries in the region think the cooperation initiative will mostly benefit China, and even increase their trade deficits with China.

The intensifying disputes on territorial issues in the South China Sea, such as the recent collision of Chinese and Vietnamese vessels, and the Chinese fishermen captured by the Philippines, [Offshore Company Incorporation]may have clouded the future of regional cooperation.

But Fan Gang, a prestigious economist, pointed out that although China has a larger economy than any of the ASEAN countries, China is still a developing country with middle-level incomes; and the development of Beibu Gulf region is below the national average.

Fan said developing manufacturing will be a feature of the cooperation because ASEAN countries, which are mostly densely populated, still have lower labor costs. Exporting manufacturing to the region would significantly raise local growth and employment in the ASEAN countries.